Family law attorneys don’t usually get to see couples before they marry. Most often, couples work with family law attorneys as they prepare for and navigate divorce. However, family law attorneys have a unique perspective on the things that can destroy marriages. In sharing this perspective with couples who are not yet married, it’s possible that family law attorneys could help prevent some divorces.

One essential piece of advice for couples who are contemplating marriage is to talk about money. Disagreements about money rank high on lists of issues that lead to divorce, and if one or both of you are hesitant to discuss finances, it’s worth taking time to think about why. It’s also worth taking time to work through your thoughts and feelings on money to develop a unified financial strategy. It’s a good idea to explore this area of your relationship, as well as many others, with the help of a premarital counselor. A premarital counselor can help you, and your potential future spouse come to know each other in ways that will benefit you immensely once you are married, by helping you explore potentially tricky topics together in a safe environment.

The second piece of advice that I have for couples who are considering marriage is to assess whether a prenuptial agreement would be useful for them. When you explore the question of whether the two of you might benefit from a prenuptial agreement, consider that Texas is a community property state. In a Texas divorce, each spouse gets to keep what they had before the marriage, and whatever they acquired during the marriage becomes part of the “community property,” which gets divided evenly between the spouses. If you’re approaching marriage with something, such as a business, that could grow in value during the marriage, it may be wise to make a prenuptial agreement if you would not want it split in half in the event of a divorce.

If you and your spouse have reached a point at which divorce seems inevitable, my first bit of advice to you would be to divorce sooner, rather than later, if you expect to be paying alimony. This is the last year that the federal income tax deduction for alimony is available, following the enactment of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. All divorces that involve the payment of alimony that settle before the end of 2018 are grandfathered, giving the paying spouse the ability to claim a tax deduction on the alimony they pay to a former spouse. Paying spouses whose divorces settle after that date will not have access to that deduction.

The second piece of financial advice that I have for divorcing couples is to be thorough in making changes to your personal documents after your divorce is final. Make a checklist of all of the changes that you need to make, and take care of them one by one. Beneficiary designations, social security information, estate planning documents like your will and health care power of attorney, all of these and more may need attention before your affairs are entirely in order as a divorced person.

Whether you are contemplating marriage or considering divorce, a Texas family law attorney can answer your family law questions. Call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499 to schedule an initial consultation. You can also plan your consultation online by using our online contact form.

Divorce is not a one-size-fits-all type of legal proceeding where the divorcing spouses can fill out a few simple forms, attend a hearing, and be done with it. That’s why we urge anyone considering a divorce to avoid products and services that promise an easy, inexpensive, and fast divorce. Too many people have discovered that attempting to resolve a divorce that way can become a nightmarish experience that is complicated, costly, and lengthy. We suggest that you seek counsel from a family law attorney. Your attorney will guide you through the paperwork required for your divorce, and they will help you navigate the process of weighing your options regarding the various aspects of your divorce as you work towards a resolution of your case. The following three questions and answers are things that divorce attorneys are asked about often. Because so many divorcing Texans want to know about these topics, it’s likely that this information will be of use to you, too.

Texas divorce attorneys are often asked whether Texas courts grant no-fault divorces. The answer is yes, but there’s a catch. A couple can obtain a no-fault Texas divorce on the basis of insupportability only if both spouses agree to do so. Insupportability is the word that the Texas courts use to describe a marriage in which disputes and disagreements that cannot be resolved by the spouses have so damaged the relationship between the spouses that the animosity between them is forcing an end to their marriage. If the spouses do not agree to a divorce on the grounds of insupportability, they must choose a fault-based grounds for divorce upon which to base their complaint for divorce. The options for fault-based grounds for divorce in Texas include adultery, conviction of a felony, confinement in a mental hospital, living apart for three or more years, cruelty, and abandonment.

Prospective divorce clients sometimes ask whether they have to be a Texas resident to get a Texas divorce. The answer is yes. However, the time required to establish residency that meets the requirement for divorce is not long. One or both spouses must live in Texas for at least six months before filing for divorce. Also, one of the spouses must live in the county where they are filing for for at least ninety days before filing.

A third question that is often on the minds of Texans who are contemplating divorce is how the distribution of marital property is handled in Texas. Texas is a community property state. Most property acquired by either or both spouses during the marriage is considered part of the couple’s community property that will be divided during the divorce. If a spouse wants to exclude a specific item or asset from the couple’s community property, they must be able to prove to the court by clear and convincing evidence that they either acquired it before the marriage and kept is separate from their community property during the property or that it was given to only one of the spouses during the marriage.

If you are considering divorce, a Texas Family Law Attorney can answer any questions you may have. Call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499 to schedule an initial consultation. You can also schedule your consultation online by using our online contact form.

Most divorces happen because the spouses have decided that they do not want to be married to each other. Unfortunately, some couples in Texas are considering or who have considered divorce even though they want to be married to each other. Economic pressures associated with caring for disabled children have pushed some couples to think about divorce when the topic would never get discussed for any other reason.

For example, one couple reports that the Social Security Administration has informed them that they earn too much income to qualify for assistance from the United States government that would help them pay for the medical care that their daughter needs. Their daughter has Rett Syndrome, a rare, non-inherited genetic disorder, which requires a great deal of specialized care, support and resources for everyday living. The girl cannot speak, nor can she eat solid food. She needs specialized equipment to help her walk. The expenses associated with the care that the girl’s condition requires go well beyond what the family pays out of pocket for their private health care. The government’s reply to their request for financial assistance is that they must get divorced, earn less money, or have another child.

The parents of a three-year-old girl with cerebral palsy face a similar situation. Her parents have had to consider divorce to obtain the long-term care benefits that she will need throughout her lifetime. The benefits that would be available to the girl’s mother as a single parent would be adequate to provide what her daughter needs. The couple wants to remain married, and they have decided against divorce, trusting that they will find some other way to care for their daughter beside doing what, for them, is not an option.

Instead of divorce, some couples are choosing to move out of state to places where the help they need is easier to get. Others are paying for what therapies and treatments they can while knowing that there’s more they could be doing for their disabled children. Many of these families are working to influence lawmakers to change the rules that place couples in the position of feeling like they have to choose between their marriage and the health care needs of their disabled kids.

Aside from forcing couples who want to remain married to think about divorce, there is another equally troubling facet to the idea of considering divorce to obtain health care benefits for an ill or disabled child. Doing so might be fraudulent. Under Texas law, a couple can divorce if they can show that their continued marriage is insupportable due to discord or personality conflicts between the spouses that have destroyed the purpose of the marriage relationship and prevent any reasonable expectation of reconciliation. If a couple wants to be married, and their reason for divorce is to enable one of them to qualify for health care benefits, they are not truthful if they state on their divorce paperwork or in court that they are divorcing because of marital discord. In other words, their divorce filing would be fraudulent.

If you are considering divorce, a Texas family law attorney can help you understand whether your reasons for wanting a divorce fall within the law’s guidelines for when a Texas divorce will be granted. Call (903) 753-7499 today, to set up an initial consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra. You can also visit our web page anytime to submit an online contact form.

The population of Texas includes many people who were born outside of the United States. These people may have lived in their home countries for many years before coming to the United States, and some of them even married and divorced in their countries of origin before they arrived in Texas. Since their arrival, they have established themselves in Texas, and many of them are now successful business owners or are enjoying other forms of success and prosperity.

The success and security that some immigrants are building for themselves in Texas could be in jeopardy, thanks to a law that recently went into effect which essentially allows Texas to decide whether or not it will honor judgments of foreign courts. In other words, the divorce that you thought was final in your home country might not be valid in Texas. Fortunately, you may be able to protect yourself and the life that you have been building here in Texas by pursuing a Texas divorce.

The new law allows the Texas Supreme Court to make rules that restrict recognition of foreign judgments that might run afoul of due process or the constitutional rights of any of the parties to whom those judgments apply. Many countries have laws that result in judgments that do pass muster under the new law. Some nations have laws that vary drastically from American laws, especially those countries where women have significantly fewer legal rights than men do. Divorce decrees from those countries, as well as prenuptial agreements and other legal judgments from those countries that are not fair and equitable,  will also be declared invalid by Texas courts because Texas requires fairness and equitability in judgments made by its courts.

A case that is now in the Texas court system provides an example of how the potential for conflict between the decrees of foreign courts and the law as applied by Texas courts can affect individuals. A foreign-born man came to Texas and built several enterprises. A few years after he arrived, the ex-wife whom he had married and divorced in his home country came to Texas and asserted a claim to half of everything that the man had acquired because her foreign divorce from him is not valid in Texas. While we do not know how the Texas courts will resolve that case, it is a very concerning example of the types of implications that the law regarding foreign judgments could have.

When immigrants try to divorce in Texas, and they own property in another country, they may encounter difficulty in obtaining recognition of a Texas divorce decree awarding the property to either spouse in the courts of their home country. A strategy that courts and attorneys can use to circumvent this issue is to have the foreign property get legally divided by a court in the country where it’s located, and then consider the value of the foreign property awarded to each spouse in completing the property division portion of the Texas divorce decree.

A Texas family law attorney can help you decide whether to pursue a divorce or division of property in Texas and or elsewhere. If you obtained a divorce in a foreign country, your Texas Family Law attorney can help you evaluate whether getting a Texas divorce would benefit you or protect you in any way. To learn more, call (903) 753-7499, to arrange a consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra. Alternatively, visit our web page anytime and submit an online contact form.

Divorce can be costly for both spouses. Even couples who were doing relatively well financially can come out on the other side of their divorce bankrupt, or uncomfortably close to it. Fortunately, you can do things during your divorce that can protect your financial security.

Hiring a divorce attorney might seem like a counterintuitive move when you’re aiming to reduce the cost of your divorce, but it is one of the most financially sensible things that you can do. Your Texas divorce attorney understands how all things financial work in divorce cases, and they can help you understand the potential cost of just about every decision that you’ll have to make during your divorce, so you can avoid making costly mistakes. That knowledge alone is worth the investment, but there’s more. Individuals who get represented by attorneys in their divorce cases have a higher likelihood of settling their divorce by agreement rather than by trial. When spouses settle a divorce, each of them is likely to be more satisfied with the result than they would be if their case went to trial and a judge decided the outcome.

Another mistake that some people make, whether they get represented by an attorney or not, is supplying incomplete or incorrect financial information. When you divorce, all of your financial information must be made available to your attorney, your spouse’s attorney, and the court. If you purposefully or accidentally withhold information about anything, the court might penalize you.

Having unreasonable or unrealistic expectations is a third mistake that could cost you in your Texas divorce. Whether you are working with an attorney or representing yourself, make sure that you’re asking for a reasonable amount of the marital property, a reasonable parenting schedule, and so on. Your attorney can help you understand what types of requests and proposals are reasonable when you present them with accurate information about your marriage and family life as well as your assets and when you keep the conversation focused more on practical things than on how you are feeling (angry, betrayed, etc.) Seek support for your feelings from friends, family, or through counseling, and use your attorney’s expertise to get the details of your divorce sorted out so that you can move forward with your life. Keeping your expectations and any proposals or requests that you make during your divorce reasonable can save you money in multiple ways. Firstly, your soon to be former spouse and their attorney are more likely to accept your ideas with few modifications. Also, if the two of you can reach agreement on how to settle each element of your divorce case, then you can present your solution to the court as an uncontested divorce, which avoids the costs of litigation and results in an outcome designed by the two of you instead of by a judge.

An experienced Texas Family Law Attorney can help you work through the legal details of your divorce towards a positive result. Call (903) 753-7499, to schedule a consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra, or visit our web page anytime to submit an online contact form.